The Do’s and Don’ts to Building and Growing Your Social Media Presence

- February 10, 2017

Social media has become routine and a major communication tool in today’s society, not only for the individual but especially for a business. If your business is not utilizing social media, it’s time. Your competitors are most likely doing so and grabbing hold of the marketplace. With that being said, how do you begin? What is most important to focus on to take stake and engage in the social universe, build your reputation and acquire following and engagement with your target audiences? For an effective social media strategy, it is most important to know precisely what to do.

Social Media Do’s and Don’ts

Do create a plan. Conduct research and determine the best platforms that makes sense to your industry and company. Develop a strategy and compile a calendar. Make sure your strategy aligns with your branding and serves as an aid and support to your overall marketing strategy.

Do know who you’re speaking to. Knowing your target audiences is key. Tailor your social media strategy to your desired audience and ensure you fully understand their interests, social media and content preferences so you are not wasting your time.

Do entertain through creative and unique content. Set yourself apart from your competition and utilize your competitive advantages and value proposition through creation of specific brand content to share amongst the accounts you create. Make sure to modify the content according to the channel.

Do engage and interact. Be active and speak to your audience. This will build your accountability and voice directly with your audience. Determine the best accounts to follow and associate your brand with and engage through liking, commenting and sharing their content to build your community and social network.

Do read before sharing. Typos, errors, incorrect messaging and accidental posting can happen to anyone, but for a business, can be a nightmare. Please proofread, triple check and ensure the content and copy is what you intended before it gets sent out to the world.

Don’t overshare. Overwhelming your customers with an abundance of content can easily annoy them and produce a negative impact; precisely the opposite of what your strategy is trying to do. Test and determine the best days, times and frequency for your posts.

Don’t ignore messages and comments. Social media allows for open dialogue and has become a wonderful source for customer service and direct communication with your customers and industry. Make sure to monitor and reply as necessary.

Don’t delete negative comments. Although deleting negativity can be done in an instant, best practices point to the alternative. Address the customer in a kind, courteous and professional manner and serve them to the best of your ability to resolve any issue. If done correctly, this interaction can help build trust and instill the quality of your brand and its effort to retain customer satisfaction.

Don’t forget to adjust your strategy. Through testing and time, you’ll be able to see the results of your efforts. If you find a certain type of content or channel isn’t working for you, make the necessary changes and alterations to your strategy as you learn more to ensure campaign success.

Don’t be impatient! Growing anything takes time. Learn from the process and know that with creative content, effort, analysis and reactionary modifications, your social media strategy has all the tools it needs to improve and expand your business.

By knowing what to do and what not to do on social media, you will know how to make your social media marketing efforts pay off. At Commexis, we stay informed on the latest trends as the social media world continues to evolve to create compelling content and social media campaigns that reach your desired audiences and generate traffic and buzz for your business. Stay tuned for more of our insight each week!